You Make Me Feel Brand New

A Day of Renewal as The Westin Nusa Dua Says “Happy Birthday” to the Resort’s Temple

(7/13/2012) The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali celebrated the “odalan” of the hotel’s temple on Tuesday, June 3, 2012. All temples in Bali celebrate their anniversary or “odalan” during one of the full moons occurring during the course of a year.

Special occasions celebrated with colorful offerings, prayer, music and dance – an odalan is an opportunity to make offerings to the Gods and express gratitude for the blessings that have been bestowed during the past 12 months.

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In keeping with Balinese Hindu religious practice, the Westin’s celebration included a purification ritual to cleanse the temple compound by burning sandalwood, blessings administered with holy water and the spilling of sacrificial blood. Elaborate offerings of fruit and flowers filled the temple, while a high-caste priest led the ceremony through the recitation of ancient mantras delivered in arcane Balinese.

The temples “birthday” also included cultural entertainment with traditional Balinese dance and music. Resort associates participated in a lively procession carrying all the sacred temple objects to the sea for purification with salt water. The final stage of the ceremony involves communal prayer seeking peace and posterity for the year ahead.

The Managing Director of The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali, Bipan Kapur, donned traditional Balinese dress and joined his team for the temple celebration. “The resort’s annual temple ceremony is considered to be one of the most important days on our in-house calendar of events. It was indeed a great honor for me to celebrate this religious occasion with my associates. The fact that the Balinese still manage to balance their social and religious obligations even in the work place is truly inspiring. Even our guests were fascinated with the proceedings of this culturally enriching experience. It was a time to renew the mind for everyone involved,” said Kapur.

Shown on Balidisocvery.com are pictures from the special day of prayer and renewal at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua.